December? Wow! Hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving break. I know I felt a need for a break, and it felt good to take those quiet moments and reflect on all I am thankful for in my life. I hope you had the same opportunity.

Reading buddies – We made turkeys with thankful sayings on their feathers with our buddies on Friday the 21st. Were you able to see your student’s thankful expressions? We are continuing with our nonfiction reading matters unit. In January, students will use this information to begin a research project to practice all they have learned. November reading logs are due from home reading! First-grade buddies:

Writing – Celebration of our realistic fiction stories happened on Friday. We have a lot of creativity in our classroom, and we are improving on “elaborating” our stories with details. What many students need to work on is being consistent with our conventions, i.e. periods, capitals, spelling, and the letter “i” being capitalized! Hard to believe this is still an issue in fourth grade.

Math – We are beginning division. Continue to practice those math facts. Division flash cards should have come home last week or this week. A parent letter came home this week explaining the many methods we use in the classroom, so you can stretch your own brain and perhaps help your student when necessary.

Science – We have begun our first new “phenomenal science” unit. This is new curriculum that Hudsonville is experimenting with this year that includes a lot of hands-on learning, questioning, and small group collaboration. There will be no grade, but hopefully a lot of great learning!

This seems like a good time to thank you parents for entrusting me with your children every day. I very much enjoy all their personalities and hope I am making a positive impact on their lives in some way. Have a great weekend.